Growing Pains
by Book of Doom
Summary: A little time line of Ichigo and his Hollow's relationship as it progresses. IchiHichi


Title: Growing pains

Word count: 1,768

Author's notes: I almost left this as just a drabble using the first scene and planned to come back once I had wrapped my head around Hichigo but the story kinda took a life of it's own and well… you know how these things go. This is definitely one of my longer stand-alone pieces… Once more, written late at night so I can't say I'm fully responsible for the nonsense that comes out. Un-beta'd so please pardon the (numerous) typos.

Blue

**Growing pains**

Darkness, it's all he expects as he fragments and fades. He keeps his eyes open even though it stings as they fall apart because seeing is too good to pass up. Where he's going, he can keep his eyes shut all he wants and it won't make the slightest difference.

It swallows him, all of him, the dark void he existed in a lifetime ago when he was still a part of Zangetsu rather than the other way around. Worlds within worlds, he thinks, as he trickles into the space he remembers better than he wants to. This time though it's different.

He's cramped, packed so tight he can barely move. And as he twitches restlessly against the walls of the prison that was too small for him even when he was so much weaker, he thinks that hell must be a lot like this.

-

Ichigo collapsed gratefully into the bed the Vaizard had offered, unmindful of the thin mattress and lumpy pillow. It may have been in his Shinigami form but he had spent the last week practicing more or less non-stop and even back in his body he could feel his muscles ache. Staring at the ceiling, he tried to give in to the exhaustion dogging his body but a steady buzz of annoyance chased the quiet for slumber away. A whole week and what did he have to show for it? True he had beaten his Hollow but beyond that his progress was pathetic. A whole week of training and he was no more powerful in his Hollow form than when he had started. It was too early to be giving up but Ichigo had a sneaking suspicion that if he continued at this rate, the war with the Arrancar was going to find him little more powerful than that night he had lost to Grimmjow.

_Ichigo!_

He recognized the voice even though he's heard it precious few enough time before. "Zangetsu?" Ichigo whispered. He'd never heard the sword speak to him while he was conscious.

_Ichigo, we must speak. Now._

And just like that the room flickered out of sight like a television changing channel and Ichigo found himself in the bizarre landscape of his inner world.

"Hey, Zangetsu, where are you?"

"Ichigo, we need to talk."

The sword was standing on a flagpole rising vertically out of the 'ground'. Ichigo couldn't help but grin; after what he'd found during his last visit to his inner world, it was good to see his zanpakuto again.

"So I heard. What's up?"

"Your Hollow. He is causing… problems. Not intentionally this time but if we do not address this problem, it is likely he will destroy all of us."

"What? How? Do I have to fight him again?" Ichigo wasn't afraid, really he wasn't. But it'd only been a week and if his Hollow would want a rematch every seven days, it might get tedious maintaining his position of control. Though it would force him to keep on his toes…

"That will be not necessary." Zangetsu's thin lips creased upwards in a small smile. "This time the two of you will need to talk."

"Talk? About what? Where is he anyway?"

Zangetsu bowed his head. For a moment Ichigo thought the sword's coat was _eating_ him. Only everything the black fabric touched seemed to invert and turned white, bone white.

"Yo, King."

"_You!_" Ichigo had his zanpakuto drawn in a flash. "What did you do to Zangetsu?"

"Relax will ya?" The Hollow stuck a finger in his ear and scratched, completely unfazed at the sword pointed at him. "He's just… gone to sleep for awhile. It'll give us a chance to talk."

"What do we have to talk about? Zangetsu said you would destroy all of us. What are you planning?"

"Tch. Clam down will ya? I'm not doing anything. Which is kinda the problem… And your fault, come to think of it. If you'd only let me fight we might not even be in this mess to begin with…"

"Stop talking in riddles," Ichigo snapped. It was hard not to be a little on edge; the last time he'd seen the Hollow it had been considerably more demented. On the other hand Zangetsu had said they didn't need to fight but talk…

"Ah, I never liked this explanin' stuff… Maybe I should've let the old man do this… Right, see, it's like this. Your power can come from me or Zangetsu. While Zangetsu's power is mostly dormant, mine's active and grows with yours. The stronger you get, the more powerful I grow."

Ichigo's scowl deepened. "Are you saying I have to fight you again?"

"Well now, I wouldn't mind but no, that's not it. Ya see, you keep drawing on Zangetsu's power but what about mine? I'm all rarin' to go but nothing doing. The old man thinks that if we keep this up, me suppressing all my power, something's gonna give and we'll all go up in a boom of spirit particles."

"And why didn't Zangetsu tell me this?"

The Hollow gave a disinterested shrug that seemed to say "search me". "Don't believe me if ya don't want to but don't you find it's getting harder to draw on your strength?"

Ichigo thought about the last week of fruitless practice, of the frustration of going nowhere, of needing the strength to stop Aizen, of winning. The substitute shinigami didn't sheathe his sword but he allowed its tip to lower to touch the floor. "What are you proposing?"

An impossibly wide grin spread across the Hollow's face. "Now yer talkin'."

-

"HOLLOW!"

He smiles and watches the clouds in the wrong-way-up sky, waiting for the boy to come up from behind and spin him around roughly by the shoulder, brown eyes smoldering with anger so they glint and look almost golden.

"Yo King."

"Don't you 'yo, king' me," Ichigo growls, his eyes angry slits. "You broke our deal!"

"Really? Didn't know you were that fond of the brat."

"That's not the point! You nearly killed Hiyori! You're supposed to lend me your power, nothing more. Sticking your oar in wasn't part of the agreement."

"What makes you so sure that was me interfering?" His voice is sly and he watches with satisfaction as Ichigo pauses, the words registering and then their meaning sinking in. It doesn't take long; Ichigo is a fairly smart boy after all.

"That wasn't me," the substitute shinigami hisses but he can see it in his eyes; the boy's worried.

"Sure about that? S'not like you like the brat. Besides, she had it coming to her, acting all tough like that. Maybe you just did it to teach her a lesson, for her own good. After all, if she strutted around like that in front of someone who wasn't as kind as you, they might not have settled for just breaking her arm-"

"You did that you bastard!"

"But Ichigo, I'd never do anything you didn't want to yourself."

Ichigo pushes him away like he's something dirty, something contagious, and he tells himself that the grin on his face is because he relishes the boy's confusion and guilt. Not to hide something else he feels because there's nothing to hide. Ichigo winks out of sight, obviously having returned to the outside world and the Hollow looks at the now-empty world. Watching the clouds suddenly seems almost as bad as being trapped sightless in the dark somehow…

-

"Hey, King."

"What?" Ichigo didn't want to be here, which he realized was fairly idiotic since it was _his_ inner world. But having the Hollow around had changed that. And he'd learnt fairly early on that simply avoiding the creature that lived inside his head was highly unadvisable since his behavior was prone to become even more erratic when bored. It really didn't help that a heavy concentration of training with the Vaizard and schoolwork had him busier than he'd have liked.

"Since you're 'ichigo' and this is your inner world, would the clouds taste like strawberries?"

It started softly but eventually the chuckles worked their way free and Ichigo found himself laughing more freely than he had in weeks. When he finally managed to glance over, his Hollow was looking back up at the sky again, a very satisfied smirk spread impossibly wide across his face.

-

Steel clashes on steel and he jumps back, a huge grin on his face. Ichigo flies back too, an expression mirroring his own on the face that looks so much like his. The Hollow runs his tongue along dry lips and lunges forward again. Ichigo dodges-barely- but his grin is no less fierce, the joy of combat no less apparent in his brown human eyes than in their golden twins'.

"I don't think you can win this one, King," he taunts as they press close for a moment, their bodies separated only by the twin Zangetsus held between them, straining against one another, seeking an opening.

"Keep saying that to yourself that but it's not coming true," Ichigo retorts, the pleasure in his eyes removing any bite from his words.

The air whistles as they swing their blades and then suddenly there's a thud that's not right, metal against concrete rather than the ring of steel on steel. Ichigo stares at his empty hands, at the black blade embedded in the ground several yards away and then finally at the bone white sword resting on his collar bone but not pushing past the skin. The Hollow laughs and lowers his sword.

"I win!"

He sheathes his sword before realizing that Ichigo is staring at him with shock over more shock. The smile on his face falters as he realizes that his victory isn't the only unexpected thing his king is dealing with right now. He has to turn away before he speaks; he doesn't trust his expression just now.

"This is just sparring so it don't count."

"Why?" Ichigo sounds confused and suddenly the Hollow just very much wants him to leave.

"Doesn't matter."

"You know…" Footsteps draw closer, soft but not hesitant. "When I say that, I usually don't mean it. In fact…" The footsteps stop and the Hollow can feel the warmth of Ichigo's body behind him; it's not cold but the human's the only really warm thing in this world. "It's usually quite the opposite."

"Well, as you so frequently point out, I'm not you."

A hand rests on his shoulder and turns him around, gently. Brown eyes stare at him, knowing and accepting.

"Close enough."

And enough is just right.

**-End**

I nearly ended it here! But I can't bring myself to write a truly emo fic. Yes, I am a complete sucker for happy endings.


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